This Is Your Brain On Ketchup...Any Questions?
by Ilex the Elder
Summary: Pikachu's love for ketchup gets a little out of hand, resulting in a compromising situation with one of the members of Team Rocket.
1. Chapter 1

"Mmmm, this triple-decker-double-cheeseburger is gonna hit the spot!" Ash said eagerly as the waitress at the Dodrio Diner brought him his order. 

"You think you can handle all that, Ash?" Brock smiled as Ash reached for the ketchup.

"Course I can," Ash replied as he poured the ketchup on his burger and fries. "Remember when I ate seven hamburgers at one sitting?"

"Yeah, and then you had a horrible stomachache afterwards," Misty reminded him as she nibbled one of her french fries.

"Want some ketchup, Pikachu?" Ash offered the bottle to his Pokémon, who took a taste. 

"Pika!" said the little yellow Pokémon enthusiastically. It then proceeded to slurp down half the bottle.

"Hey, go easy on that stuff, Pikachu," said Ash. "Save some for Brock and Misty." As Ash reached for the bottle, Pikachu growled and slapped his trainer's hand away. "Pikachu!"

"Looks like Pikachu really loves his ketchup," smiled an amused Misty.

"Okay, that's enough, Pikachu. Give me the bottle," Ash ordered.

"Pikachu!" As Ash grabbed the ketchup bottle, Pikachu sank his teeth into Ash's hand.

"Ow! Pikachu, what are you doing?!" Ash yelped as he dropped the bottle and Pikachu caught it.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Pikachu do that," said Brock, who was shocked by Pikachu's actions.

"It's almost as if Pikachu's addicted to that stuff," said an equally surprised Misty.

"Yeah, well, I don't like how Pikachu's acting," said Ash angrily as he picked up a napkin and began dabbing at the blood oozing from the teeth marks on his hand. "Gimme the bottle, Pikachu!"

Pikachu, clinging tightly to the ketchup bottle, began growling and sparks started flying from its red cheeks. Ash, realizing that Pikachu was ready to Thundershock him, backed off. The three friends then watched Pikachu rapidly guzzle down the rest of the contents of the bottle with a crazed expression on its face. Tossing aside the empty bottle, Pikachu then spotted another bottle on the next table and made a jump for it.

"Oh no, you don't!" cried Ash as he lunged for his Pokémon. 

"Hey, there's Professor Oak and your mom," said Misty as a gray-haired man in a lab coat accompanied by a pretty auburn-haired woman entered the restaurant and sat down at one of the booths at the far side of the dining area.

"So what would you like, Delia?" Professor Oak asked his lunch date as the waitress brought them their menus.

"I think I'll have a salad," Delia told him as she scanned the menu.

"That's it?"

"Uh-huh, gotta watch my figure, you know."

"Why don't you let me do that?" Professor Oak smiled as he peeked over the edge of his menu and let his eyes rove over Delia's curves. Delia giggled and smiled flirtatiously at her date. "Sure I can't interest you in something else? You're going to get hungry later if a salad is all you're going to have."

"Well, maybe I will have something else," Delia said as she returned to the menu. "Maybe I'll have a bacon-lettuce-and tomato sandwich. Although I hate the tomatoes that most of the restaurants serve. They're so small and mushy."

"I think your tomatoes are nice. They're big and round and firm." Professor Oak smiled dreamily in the direction of her chest, then his face reddened when he realized what he had just said. "Uh, I meant the tomatoes in your _garden are nice and firm." He then ducked behind his menu to hide his burning face._

Delia giggled again. 

"Pikachu, stop!" 

A crazed Pikachu jumped in the middle of Professor Oak's and Delia's table.

"Pikachu, what on earth are you doing?" Delia asked her son's Pokémon.

Pikachu didn't respond, but instead grabbed the ketchup bottle off of their table, pried the lid off, and began to gulp the contents. Both Delia and Professor Oak watched in amazement as Pikachu proceeded to down the bottle rapidly.

"Hi, Mom, Professor Oak. Sorry about Pikachu," Ash apologized as he reached for his ketchup-covered Pokémon. As soon as his hand touched Pikachu, the Pokémon snarled and swung the ketchup bottle at Ash.

"Pikachu! Professor Oak, Pikachu's acting really weird," Ash said as he drew back.

"Yes, I can see that," Professor Oak said as he watched the Pokémon slurp the ketchup greedily. "When did Pikachu start acting this way?"

"When I let him have a taste of ketchup," Ash replied.

"You know, the way Pikachu's acting, it's almost as if he's intoxicated," Professor Oak said as he studied the Pokémon's behavior and facial expressions carefully.

"Intoxicated?" Delia said, surprised.

"Yes. It's not unlike the way Meowth and Persian react to catnip. There must be some compound in ketchup that acting as an intoxicant to Pikachu, perhaps the tomatoes," Professor Oak explained. "It's actually quite fascinating, really. I don't think there's ever been a study on the effects of ketchup on Pikachu. I must do some research on that."

"But what do I do about my Pikachu now?" Ash whined. "He's so whacked out that he won't let me touch him."

The three watched Pikachu finish the last dregs of ketchup, toss the bottle aside, and stagger drunkenly off of the table in search of more. Spying a truck in the parking lot with a picture of a huge bottle of ketchup on it, Pikachu raced out the door.

"Pikachu! Stop!" Ash yelled as he dashed out the door after his Pokémon, with Misty and Brock at his heels.

"That was bizarre," Delia said as she grabbed a handful of napkins and started cleaning up the ketchup-smeared table.

"Actually, it's not," Professor Oak said thoughtfully as he took some of the napkins from Delia and helped her wipe up the mess Pikachu had made in its ketchup-induced frenzy. "Tomatoes are in the nightshade family. Perhaps a similar compound in the tomatoes in the ketchup is causing Pikachu to act this way. I really do need to study this further."

"I can believe he's acting crazy because of tomatoes," Delia said as she began to wipe the ketchup smears off of her menu. "Do you ever act that way when you're around mine?"

"Oh yes," Professor Oak smiled to himself. But he wasn't referring to the ones in her garden.

"Where did it go?" Brock asked as he surveyed the parking lot, looking for the truck that Pikachu had gone after.

"I don't know," said Misty. "Wait! There it is!" She pointed to the truck heading down the street with a small yellow Pokémon racing along behind it.

"After him!" Ash cried as the three friends took off after the ketchup truck.

--- 

"Please, Jessie? Can't we stop for a bite to eat?" pleaded James as Team Rocket flew overhead in their balloon.

"Eat what, James?" Jessie shot back. "We have no money!"

"Forget about the food right now," said Meowth as he pointed to the ground below. "Look over there!"

All three looked down and saw a yellow Pokémon in hot pursuit of a truck.

"Is that Pikachu?" James wondered.

"Sure looks like it," said Meowth. 

"Well, don't just stand there staring! Let's catch it!" ordered Jessie as she began manipulating the Pokémon -catching arms of the balloon in the direction of Pikachu. "Ha! I've got you now!" she smiled triumphantly as she directed the arms towards Pikachu. Unfortunately, at that moment a gust of wind caught the balloon, sending the robotic arms away from their target. 

"YAHHHHH! Let go, Jessie! Let go!" screamed James as the arms clamped onto the bumper of the truck Pikachu was pursuing.

"I can't! They're stuck!" Jessie said frantically as the balloon began zipping along behind the truck.

"Hey!"

"MEOWTH!" Jessie and James cried in unison as Meowth tumbled out of the balloon's basket. Both watched in horror as Meowth bounced off of the top of the truck and landed atop Pikachu, sending them both rolling into the woods beside the road. 

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!" yelped Meowth as the two Pokémon tumbled down a grassy hill and landed in a field of wildflowers. Dazed, Meowth slowly sat up and tried to figure out what had just happened. "Hey, where am I?" 

"Pika?" a still-intoxicated Pikachu replied as it sat up.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" asked Meowth, noticing the goofy expression on Pikachu's face. "Falling down the hill didn't make you _that dizzy, did it?"_

"Pikachu," replied the other Pokémon with a dreamy glance in Meowth's direction.

"What th'?" Suddenly, Meowth caught a whiff of something wonderful. "Mmmm! What's that?" Meowth followed his nose and to his delight, discovered that they had landed in a field of catnip. "Yippee!" cried Meowth happily as he began rolling among the catnip plants.

"Where are they?" panted Ash as he, Brock, and Misty ran along the road that the ketchup truck had taken.

"Pikachu can't go too far," said Misty. "He's bound to get tired out soon."

"Yeah, but you've got to remember that Pikachu is on a ketchup high," Brock reminded them. "It may take some time for it to wear off. He might not run out of energy for some time."

"Come on," Ash motioned to the others. "I'm not gonna stop looking for Pikachu until I find him."

---

"This is interesting," Professor Oak told Delia back at his laboratory. "This article in one of my scientific journals says that the compound lycopene in tomatoes acts as a natural stimulant for mouse-type Pokémon like Pikachu and Raichu."

"So that's why Pikachu was acting so wild at the restaurant?" Delia asked.

"Apparently so," replied Professor Oak as he continued to read the article. "And it...oh my."

"What?"

"Apparently the lycopene in tomatoes isn't only a Pikachu stimulant, but it's also an aphrodisiac."

"An aphrodisiac?" Delia echoed.

"Yes, and it's quite a powerful one, evidently," Professor Oak continued as he scanned the rest of the article.

"Does the aphrodisiac work only on Pikachu, or does it work on other Pokémon?" Delia asked.

"Hmmm, this article doesn't say," Professor Oak said as he finished his journal and put it down on his desk. 

"Oh my, I guess I'll have to keep Pikachu away from my garden from now on," Delia said. "I didn't realize my tomatoes would be so arousing."

"Oh, yours definitely have that effect on me," replied Professor Oak, who was wondering if lycopene would produce a similar effect in humans. "I…I mean…" he stammered as his face turned bright red. "The ones in your garden, I mean."

Delia, amused by his reaction, giggled. 

--- 

"Oh man, I haven't felt this good in a long time," sighed Meowth blissfully as he lay in the patch of catnip and watched the clouds drift by. 

"Pika," Pikachu agreed as he lay next to Meowth.

"You too, huh?" said Meowth. "Ya' know, for a Pokémon, you're a pretty nice one."

"Pikachu," the other Pokémon smiled back.

"Over here! I found him!" yelled Brock as he came running through the field.

"Hey there, twerpos," Meowth smiled as Ash, Misty, and Brock came over to where the two Pokémon lay.

 "Pikachu," the Pokemon smiled with a wave in Ash's direction. 

"What's wrong with Meowth?" Misty asked. "He looks almost as goofy as Brock does when he's around a girl." 

"I think I know why," said Brock as he knelt down next to the intoxicated Pokémon. "This field is full of catnip."

"You mean Meowth's wasted, too?" Ash asked as he carefully picked up Pikachu, who, surprisingly, offered no resistance.

"Looks that way," said Brock as he watched Meowth break into a fit of giggles.

"Tee-hee, that cloud looks like Jessie's hair!" Meowth snickered as he pointed skyward.

"Let's get Pikachu home," said Ash as he cradled his Pokémon in his arms. "He's totally worn out."

"Probably from chasing the truck," Misty said, although she had to admit that Pikachu didn't really look tired. If anything, he looked relaxed…relaxed and satisfied.

"Should we leave Meowth here?" Ash wondered. 

"Yeah, he'll just sleep it off," said Brock as the three friends headed for home, leaving a giggling Meowth behind.


	2. Chapter 2

"How's Pikachu?" Professor Oak asked the next morning as Ash and his Pokémon stopped by the laboratory for a visit.

"He's pretty worn out, but seems like he's okay," Ash replied as he sat down at the workbench next to Professor Oak. Pikachu wiggled out of his trainer's arms and hopped up on the nearby couch.

"That's good. I was worried that he might have done something rash while he was under the influence," Professor Oak said as Heracross came into the room and it and Pikachu began playing together. "Especially after what your mother and I learned yesterday about the effects of too many tomatoes on Pikachu."

"What, Professor?" Ash asked curiously.

"That one of the compounds in tomatoes is a powerful stimulant…in more ways than one."

"You mean, like something that makes you hyper? I get that way after I eat too much chocolate."

"Yes, partly," Professor Oak smiled. "But tomatoes also make Pikachu stimulated in another way."

"In what way, Professor?"

"Let's just say that Pikachu's hormones went into overdrive temporarily yesterday."

"Overdrive…?" said Ash, confused. Then he understood. "Ewwww!"

Just then, a boy with curly brown hair and a camera came running excitedly into the lab. "Professor! Wait 'til you see my latest batch of pictures!" 

"Todd? What are you doing here?" Ash exclaimed at the sight of his old friend.

"Ash!" grinned Todd as he threw down the stack of pictures he was holding onto the lab bench. "I haven't seen you in a while!"

"Todd is helping me with the Pokémon report that I'm putting together," Professor Oak explained as he began to sort through Todd's photographs. "I was impressed by his work and the glowing recommendation you and your friends gave him." 

"Yeah, thanks for the good word, Ash," Todd said as he peered over Professor Oak's shoulder. "I'm having a blast with this assignment."

"Oh my, Todd. This is a fantastic shot of a Dewgong," said a delighted Professor Oak as he picked up the picture on top of the stack. "You've certainly captured its personality. This one is definitely going in the report."

"Yeah, it's one of my favorites, too," Todd agreed as he passed the picture to Ash. "But the ones I really want you to see are the ones I took yesterday." He handed another stack of pictures to Professor Oak. "They're of a very unusual encounter between two Pokémon – a Meowth and a Pikachu." 

Professor Oak began looking at the new batch of photographs. "I see what you mean, Todd. This is a highly unusual encounter. Cat-type Pokémon such as Meowth and mouse-type Pokémon like Pikachu are normally enemies, but these two appear to be…"

"Quite friendly?" grinned Todd. "Keep going. It gets more interesting."

Professor Oak's eyebrows shot up at the sight of the next photograph. "Are those two doing what I think they're doing?" Todd handed him the next photograph. "Obviously, they are."

"Doing what, Professor?" asked Ash. "Can I see?"

Professor Oak quickly snatched the picture out of Ash's reach. "Uh, maybe when you're a little bit older, Ash. I think your mother might object if I let you see this." Professor Oak studied the picture more closely. "You know, there's something familiar about this Pikachu." He glanced up at Ash's Pikachu (who was busy having a conversation with its old friend Heracross), did a double-take, then looked at the photograph again. "Oh my…"

"What is it, Professor?" asked Todd and Ash in unison.

"Pikachu, can you come over here for a second, please?" called Professor Oak to the little yellow Pokémon. When it came eagerly scampering up, Professor Oak handed it the picture. "Pikachu, does this look familiar to you?"

Pikachu's eyes grew as huge as a HootHoot's, then the Pokémon collapsed in a dead faint.

--- 

"Pikachu! Hey, buddy, are you all right?" 

The Pokémon's eyes slowly opened and it found itself lying on the floor with a worried Professor Oak, Todd, and Ash hovering overhead.

"I think Pikachu will be all right now," Professor Oak said as he checked the semiconscious Pokémon's pulse. 

"But why would Pikachu pass out like that?" Ash asked as he helped his Pokémon sit up. "What was in that picture you showed him?"

"Ash, wait!" cried Professor Oak, but it was too late. Ash had spotted the offending picture on the floor and now had it in his hands. As Ash studied the picture, a confused expression appeared on the boy's face. "Pikachu, what are you and Meowth doing?" Then Ash looked a bit more closely and figured it out.

Pikachu then passed out again.

So did Ash.

---

"Ohh, my achin' head," moaned Meowth as he came to. "Where am I?"

"You're back here in the balloon with us," Jessie informed their Pokémon friend.

"We found you lying in the fields, raving about Pikachu," James told him.

"Pikachu?" Meowth said groggily as he struggled to sit up. "Why would I be talking about…?" 

Then Meowth's eyes suddenly shot wide open.

--- 

 "And now I want the two of you to spend the rest of the day resting in bed," Delia ordered her son and his Pikachu as she tucked them both into Ash's bed.

"Okay, Mom," Ash said weakly as he closed his eyes.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Professor Oak was helping himself to a glass of lemonade when there was a knock at the back door.

"Hello, Brock," Professor Oak smiled at the teenager standing on the porch.

"Hi, Professor Oak," said Brock as he opened the door. "Is Mrs. Ketchum around?"

"She's upstairs, taking care of Ash and Pikachu. The two of them had a bit too much excitement earlier and passed out. Anything I can help you with?"

"No, I just wanted to show her the tomatoes I found in her garden. She told Misty and me that we could come over and pick as many as we wanted. She said she didn't want to have any around after what happened to Pikachu yesterday."

"I can't blame her for that," Professor Oak agreed as Brock put the basket he was carrying on the kitchen table.

"Check these out," he grinned.

Professor Oak gasped at the size of the two enormous tomatoes that Brock had taken out of the basket.

"My goodness, Delia certainly has huge tomatoes, doesn't she?"

Delia, who was on her way downstairs, overheard this rather interesting comment and decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I'll say she does," agreed Brock. 

Delia's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She knew Brock had a crush on her, but she didn't think he thought of her like _that._

"I think her tomatoes are the best ones in all of Pallet Town, don't you?" said Professor Oak.

"Yeah. Want to hold them?" Brock asked Professor Oak.

 "Sure," said Professor Oak as he picked up the two huge tomatoes and was amazed at how heavy they were. "They're nice and firm, just the way I like them."

"Bet you'd like a taste of them, wouldn't you?" Brock grinned.

"If she'll let me," Professor Oak said, imagining how delicious the vine-ripened tomatoes would taste.

Delia's mouth fell open in shock. 

"Maybe if you ask her nice enough, she'll let you have both of them," Brock replied.

"You don't want them?" Professor Oak asked.

"Nahh, Misty said she'd share hers with me," Brock said.

_I can't believe Misty said that, thought a shocked Delia__. She always seemed like such a nice girl._

"Well, okay then," said Professor Oak as he put the tomatoes down on the table. "If Delia says 'yes', then I know what I'm having for lunch."

"In the first place, I can't believe the two of you are talking about me that way!" Professor Oak's and Brock's mouths fell open in shock as a furious Delia stepped out from behind the doorway. "Especially you, Brock!" The teenager gulped as Delia stormed over to him and dealt him the full force of her wrath. "I know it's normal for boys your age to have crushes on their friend's mothers…"

Brock's face grew bright red. "How…how did you know about…?"

"Never mind that! I also know it's normal for boys you age to be obsessed with sex, but I resent you talking about my…my…"

Just then, the door swung open and Misty came into the kitchen.

"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum. Look at what I found in…"

"And I can't believe you told Brock that you'd let him touch your breasts!" Delia said as she turned her wrath on the confused girl. 

"WHAT?!" said Misty and Brock in unison.

"I always thought you were a nice girl, but you'll never get any respect from boys if you act like that!" Delia continued. "Don't let Brock push you into anything you don't want to do!"

"What are you talking about, Mrs. Ketchum?" said a red-faced Misty. "I never told Brock that he could…"

"And I never asked Misty to…" stammered an equally stunned Brock.

Professor Oak stepped in. "Delia, I think maybe you're a little confused about…"

Delia turned her anger on him. "And you're the worst of all, Professor Samuel Oak! Talking to a teenage boy about how much you'd like to fondle my breasts and have sex with me! I can't believe that you would…would…" Delia then spied the two large tomatoes sitting on the kitchen table. "Where…where did those come from?"

"They're from your garden, Mrs. Ketchum," gulped a cowering Brock.

"That's what we were talking about, Delia," said Professor Oak. "Those tomatoes."

Delia's face grew crimson. "Oh. Oh no." Mortified, she sank into a chair and buried her burning face in her hands. 

Professor Oak leaned over and patted her on the back comfortingly. "It's all right, Delia. It was an honest mistake."

"Brock, Misty, can you ever forgive me?" Delia moaned. "I'm so sorry about what I said."

"Sure, Mrs. Ketchum," Misty reassured her. "Like Professor Oak said, it was an honest mistake."

"Of course we forgive you," said Brock. "But I think Misty and I are going to go back outside now."

Brock grabbed his basket, and he and Misty quickly headed for the garden.

"Do think Mrs. Ketchum's been working too hard?" Misty asked Brock as the two headed back to the tomato patch.

"Maybe," Brock replied as he sat the basket down. "But I think Professor Oak's going to make her feel better in a few minutes."

"You're terrible!" Misty said as she tossed an overripe tomato in his direction and just missed his left ear.

---

"Meowth, wake up!" Jessie ordered as she slapped Meowth's face repeatedly.

"Ow! Cut it out!" Meowth yelped as his eyes flew open and he quickly dodged out of the way of another slap.

"All right, Jess, you did it!" James said happily.

"What happened?" Meowth asked groggily.

"You fainted," Jessie said as pulled Meowth to his feet. "Now no more wasting time! We've got to capture Pikachu!"

"PIKACHU!? AAAUGHH!" Meowth shrieked as he fainted again.

"Meowth, get off that lever!" James yelled at the unconscious Pokémon as it slumped against the balloon's steering mechanism. The Pokémon's weight forced the lever downwards, snapping it in two.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Jessie and James shouted as their balloon rapidly plunged downward.

---

"Are you all right?" Professor Oak asked Delia, who was still slumped over on the kitchen table.

"I…I still can't believe that I said what I did," Delia said, raising her head. Her face was still scarlet with embarrassment.

"Well, if it's any consolation, there was some truth to your accusations," Professor Oak said as he sat down next to her.

"What? Which ones?" Delia asked, confused.

"The ones about me wanting to…to touch you," he said softly as he took her hand in his. "You're a very attractive woman, Delia. I wouldn't be a man if I didn't have those feelings and desires for you."

"You…you feel that way about me?" Delia asked, surprised.

"Yes," he admitted shyly. "You probably think I'm a pervert for having those thoughts about you. But I can't help it, Delia."

Delia smiled. "As long as you don't go talking to Brock about them, then perhaps we could explore our feelings for each other later."

As they drew closer and their lips met in a tender kiss, a huge _crash outside made them both jump to their feet. Racing outside, they saw a deflated Meowth-shaped balloon sitting on its side in the middle of the garden. Lying in the middle of the tomato patch was a crimson-haired teenaged girl and a purple-haired teenage boy. Both were completely covered in tomato splatters. _

"What on earth is going on here?" exclaimed Delia at the sight of her garden lying in ruins.

"We were in the garden, Mrs. Ketchum," explained Misty. "When suddenly these clowns came falling out of the sky." Both Brock and Misty had jumped out of the way of the falling balloon at the last second and were standing on the patio.

"Who are you?" demanded Professor Oak.

"Prepare for trouble!" sneered a tomato-covered Jessie as she slowly got to her feet.

"And make it double!" replied an equally messy James as he removed a rotten tomato from the top of his head.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket – blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

When Meowth didn't chime in, Jessie and James looked around.

"Where is that lazy, good-for-nothing feline?" Jessie snarled.

A happy mewing caused everyone to turn in the direction of the far corner of the garden, where Meowth was rolling over on his back giddily.

"Get him out of my herb garden this instant!" shouted Delia angrily. "He's ruining my catnip plants!"

"Catnip?" said James. 

"Get out of my mom's garden!" Ash, dressed in pajamas with bright red Poké balls on them, came running out the back door, followed closely by Pikachu.

"Ash, you and Pikachu get back in bed this instant!" ordered Delia. "I'm not going to have the two of you getting sick and passing out again!"

"Listen to your mommy, twerp," said James as he tried to stifle a giggle at the sight of Ash's nightwear. 

"Why don't you and your little Pikachu go back to beddy-bye, have your mommy read you a bedtime story, then tuck you in?" snickered Jessie.

"Shut up!" shouted Ash as he picked up a tomato and hurled it at Jessie's head. It landed squarely in the middle of her head, sending tomato innards cascading down her hair.

"My hair! You've ruined my beautiful hair, you rotten little twerp!" Jessie bent down and reached for a tomato of her own. "If that's the way you're going to fight!" She hurled the tomato at Ash, but it missed and hit Misty in the face. 

"Why you…!" Misty grabbed one of the tomatoes out of her basket and threw it at her attacker, but her aim was off and it hit James instead.

"Yahh! This means war, twerp!" James picked an overripe tomato off of a nearby vine and sent it sailing in Misty's direction. It veered too far to the left and splattered in Brock's hair. 

The garden erupted in chaos as tomatoes went flying in all directions.

"Stop it! Stop it this instant!" ordered Delia as she dodged a flying tomato.  She ducked and the tomato collided with Professor Oak's right ear. 

During the melee, Pikachu had managed to sneak up on the blissfully unaware Meowth, who was singing a little tune to himself as he nibbled on a catnip leaf. As Pikachu prepared to Thundershock his opponent, Meowth turned and smiled dreamily in its direction.

"Hey there, Pikachu! You're looking really cute today. Do you wanna get chummy again like we did yesterday?"

"Pi-ka—" Pikachu's attack was interrupted as it was hit by a volley of flying tomatoes. One hit Pikachu squarely in the mouth and the Pokemon ended up swallowing it. Licking its lips, Pikachu noticed that the tomatoes tasted almost as good as ketchup. The Pokemon then eagerly started eating the tomatoes that were splattering all around it.

"And this is for ruining my garden!" Delia yelled as she threw a huge tomato at James and knocked him off of his feet. 

"Wow, I didn't know you could throw that hard, Mrs. Ketchum!" Brock said admiringly.

"Pikachu, let's Thundershock Team Rocket back into…hey! Where's Pikachu?" Ash asked as he looked around for his Pokemon. During the confusion, it had disappeared.

"I think he went over there, Ash," Misty said as she dodged another tomato and pointed in the direction of the far corner of the garden.

Ash made his way over to where there was a rustling in the herb garden. "Pikachu! Where are you?" Spotting the yellow tip of his Pokemon's tail, Ash parted the catnip plants. "Hey, Pikachu, what are you doing with Meowth?" When he realized what the two Pokemon were doing, Ash suddenly had a flashback to the photograph he had seen earlier at Professor Oak's lab.  "Oh my…" 

Ash fell over in a dead faint again.

Delia saw her son fall over at the same time Misty successfully took down Jessie with a huge worm-filled tomato. "Ash!" 

The battle now over, Delia, Misty, Brock, and Professor Oak ran over to where Ash lay. As Delia hovered worriedly over his shoulder, Professor Oak examined the unconscious boy. Meanwhile, Brock and Misty started searching for what had made Ash faint. Hearing a happy chattering and mewing in the nearby catnip patch, Misty parted the catnip plants and her jaw dropped in shock.

"Brock, are they doing what I think they're doing?"

Brock peered over her shoulder and his eyebrows shot up. "Uh, I think so, Misty."

"He'll be okay in a moment, Delia," Professor Oak reassured Ash's worried mother. He then stood up and went over to where Misty and Brock were gawking at the two Pokemon in the catnip patch. "Misty, Brock, what's going on over…oh my." The three stared in amazement at the sight of the two Pokemon entangled in a loving embrace.

"Professor, is it even possible for Meowth and Pikachu to do…well, to do what they're doing?" Misty asked Pallet Town's leading authority on Pokemon.

"Apparently so, Misty," a surprised Professor Oak replied as Jessie and James, both tomato-covered and fuming, came stomping up behind them.

"Out of our way, you old geezer!" Jessie snarled as she roughly pushed Professor Oak aside. "We're taking our Meowth and…" Jessie stopped in mid-sentence at the sight of the two Pokemon rolling in the catnip patch.

"Jessie, what's going…?" James stopped and stared at what had made his partner's face turn bright red with shock. "Oh my…Meowth! If you're going to do that, take my advice and at least use some protection!"

Everyone turned around to stare at James.  "Uh…what I meant was…" James stammered as his face turned as red as Jessie's hair.

"What's going on?" Ash asked weakly as his eyelids fluttered open. 

"Don't look, honey," Delia warned her son as she covered his eyes.

"Should we break them up, Professor?" Brock asked the older man, who was busy taking notes to document the first known encounter of this type between a Pikachu and a Meowth.

"Actually, it looks like they're done," Professor Oak observed as he put away his notebook.

"Come here, Meowth!" Jessie said as she reached down and grabbed the Pokemon that was now cleaning itself and humming a little tune. "We're getting you into rehab!"

"No more catnip for you!" James told the drunken Pokemon as Jessie dumped Meowth into his arms.

"Hey guys, you look pretty filthy," Misty said as she looked at the tomato-covered Team Rocket. "Want me to clean you up?"

"Well, isn't that nice of the twerp," Jessie smiled. 

"Staryu, I choose you!" Misty shouted as her gold star-shaped Pokemon appeared in a flash of light. "Staryu, clean up dirty old Team Rocket with your Hydro Pump!" A torrent of water shot out of the Pokemon and sent Team Rocket sailing into the stratosphere.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

As Team Rocket disappeared in the sky, Brock picked up the satisfied-looking Pikachu and saw the red stains around its mouth. "Looks like Pikachu's been eating tomatoes."

"And tomatoes have lycopene in them," Professor Oak added as he examined Pikachu's dilated pupils. "Yes, Pikachu's definitely on a lycopene high again."

"Is Pikachu gonna be all right, Professor?" Ash asked as he stood up.

"Once the effects of the lycopene wear off, he'll be fine," Professor Oak said as he took Pikachu out of Brock's arms and handed him to Ash. "Although I think I should probably run a couple of tests of him for any evidence of…well…diseases that can be transmitted via the type of contact he and Meowth just had."

"Ewwww!" Misty said as she stuck out her tongue. "That's disgusting!"


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later, Professor Oak stopped by the Ketchum house.

"Is Ash around?" he asked as he came in via the kitchen door and found Delia cooking a pot of tomato sauce.

"No, he took Pikachu to a meeting of Ketchupholics Anonymous," Delia replied as she stirred the sauce and tasted it. "Anything I can help you with?"

"I just wanted to tell him that Pikachu's test results all came back negative," Samuel told her as he peered over her shoulder. "Mmmm, that smells good…and the sauce does, too."

Delia smiled and offered him a taste. "I decided to salvage what few tomatoes were left after Team Rocket destroyed my garden and make spaghetti sauce. That way, I can get rid of the rest of the tomatoes around here. I don't ever want to see another one again after what happened."

"I don't blame you a bit, Delia," Samuel smiled as he licked his lips. "Yum, that's pretty good."

"You and Tracey are invited over for dinner tonight," Delia said as she wiped her hands on her apron and sat down at the kitchen table. "Especially since I know how much you like my tomatoes," she winked.

Professor Oak's face turned bright red.

--- 

"Jess, I don't know about this," James said with some trepidation as Team Rocket crawled through the window of the Vermilion City Gym. "Lieutenant Surge has awfully big muscles."

"If we can't capture a Pikachu, then a Raichu is the next best thing," Jessie said as she dropped to the gym floor below. "And you remember that the Raichu here defeated that twerp's Pikachu once, so it must be pretty powerful. It'll make a perfect present for the Boss."

"Lemme at him!" snarled Meowth. "I can take on a mouse-type Pokemon any day of the week!"

A loud growl behind them caused Team Rocket to turn around, where they found themselves face to face with a large, angry-looking mouse Pokemon.

"Raichu!" the Pokemon snarled as sparks flew from its yellow cheeks in preparation for a Thundershock attack.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Meowth? Go get it!" ordered Jessie as she shoved Meowth in Raichu's direction.

"I thought you said you could take on a mouse-type Pokemon any day of the week," James said as Meowth's knees began to shake.

Meowth gulped at the size of the Pokemon looming overhead. "Uh, I just remembered that this is my day off! 

"Come back here, you coward!" Jessie yelled as Meowth made a flying leap for the window. She and James caught Meowth by the legs and threw him back to the waiting Raichu.

"All right then, Mousie," Meowth said as he leapt to his feet to face the powerful electric Pokemon. "You're gonna get a taste of my secret weapon!" As Raichu advanced on the cat Pokemon, Meowth whipped out a bottle of ketchup and squirted it in the opposing Pokemon's face. "There! Now you can't see to battle!"

"Where did you get that bottle of ketchup, Meowth?" James asked as Raichu tried to wipe the red paste out of its eyes.

"I stole it from the hamburger stand back in Celadon City," Meowth said as he squirted another blast of ketchup at Raichu, hitting it squarely in the mouth. "Ha! Take that, you oversized rat!"

"Hey, we were in Celadon City three days ago!" Jessie said angrily. "That means that you've been holding out on us!"

"Yeah, we're supposed to share our food!" James said as he snatched the ketchup bottle from Meowth and began throttling the unfortunate Pokemon with it.

As Team Rocket squabbled, Raichu swallowed its mouthful of ketchup. The Pokemon licked its lips and began to grin giddily. 

"Raichu," the mouse Pokemon said with a dreamy look in Meowth's direction. 

Meowth gasped. "Oh no, I've seen that look before!"

Before Jessie and James could stop it, Raichu snatched Meowth and the bottle of ketchup out of their hands. Raichu then proceeded to guzzle the entire contents of the bottle.

"Mmm! Raichu," the Pokemon said drunkenly as it threw the empty bottle aside and looked at Meowth with an expression of pure lust.

"Oh no! Jessie! James! Help!" Meowth screamed as Raichu then proceeded to express its love for its new friend.

"Ewww, that's disgusting!" Jessie said as she and James watched the scene with shocked expressions on their faces.  

"Jessie?"

"Yes, James?"

"Remind me to never have ketchup with my french fries ever again."

THE END


End file.
